within delta of ==>
delta
1. A quantitative change, especially a small or incremental one (this use is
general in physics and engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!"
"What was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He doubled the speed
of his program, but increased its size by only 30 percent.)
2. [Unix] A diff, especially a diff stored under the set of version-control
tools called SCCS (Source Code Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System).
See change management.
3. A small quantity, but not as small as epsilon. The jargon usage of delta and
epsilon stems from the traditional use of these letters in mathematics for very
small numerical quantities, particularly in "epsilon-delta" proofs in limit
theory (as in the differential calculus). The term delta is often used, once
epsilon has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than
epsilon but still very small. "The cost isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means
that the cost isn't totally negligible, but it is nevertheless very small.
Common constructions include "within delta of ---", "within epsilon of ---":
that is, "close to" and "even closer to".
[Jargon File]
(2000-08-02)
Nearby terms:
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Delta-4 » delta conversion » Delta-Prolog
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